Twitter’s Board Accepts Elon Musk’s Offer to Buy the Company
Posted on 04/25/2022
Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) has accepted Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the company for $44 billion. Elon Musk purchased the company at $54.20 a share, the same price named in his initial offer on April 14th. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company. Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive US$ 54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing of the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter. The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
Twitter has had an outsized role in shaping narratives around the world whether in politics or business.
Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s CEO, said in a press release, “Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Elon Musk. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Billionaire Elon Musk laid out his plan for funding the deal in an SEC filing, which includes US$ 25.5 billion in loans and US$ 21 billion in personal equity. Elon Musk has more than 83 million followers on Twitter.
Advisors
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan, and Allen & Co. are serving as financial advisors to Twitter, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Professional Corporation and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP are serving as legal counsel. Morgan Stanley is acting as lead financial advisor to Mr. Musk. BofA Securities and Barclays are also acting as financial advisors. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal counsel.
News
Parag Agrawal informed Twitter employees that no layoffs are currently planned. Twitter is now imposing a hiring freeze.
Keywords: Twitter, X Holdings I, Inc., X Holdings II, Inc.
